Compromise
by Lemonchiffon
Summary: Ruka Nogi, the pheromone alice, is having trouble getting Mikan Sakura, the only girl he's ever wanted. So who better to help than her best friend? But of course, the Ice Queen does nothing for free...


_**Compromise**_

_Ruka Nogi, the pheromone alice, is having trouble getting Mikan Sakura, the only girl he's ever wanted.  
So who better to help than her best friend? But of course, the Ice Queen does nothing for free..._

**A/N: **First fanfic! Please be nice. Comments (but not flames) are greatly appreciated.  
**Disclaimer: **The characters and setting are all borrowed from Higuchi Tacibana.  
**Genre: **Romance/Humor/Drama

**Chapter: **Zero (Prologue)

* * *

Today, something weird happened to Ruka Nogi. He thought that it only happened in cartoons, but there was a huge vein pulsing on the right side of his forehead. The noise in the classroom only made it worse. Iinchou was arguing with Sumire (no use), while Nonoko and Anna had just succeeded in blowing up a distant corner of the room. _Narumi REALLY can't discipline the class, _Ruka thought as he made his way to the center of the room. A dark shadow was hunched up in front of a large piece of blue paper. The vein was pulsing even harder now, but he forced an incredibly fake (but radiant) smile before tapping the creature on the shoulder. It moved to stare at him briefly before doodling on the paper again.

"I- Imai-san," he started. "Don't you think we should start writing those love letters now?"

Hotaru held up a sign in big bold lettering. _Go away! I'm busy._

"It's 90 percent of our grade! Can't you help? It is called group work!" he exploded.

Grabbing another sign from her backpack, she held it up about a centimeter away from his face. _Thanks for the concern, but_ _I'll pass on the remaining 10. Now go AWAY!!!_

That hit a nerve. "Imai-san! You are impossible! Am I supposed to do mail the 50 letters myself? Where do you get all these signs anyway?"

A small smile crept to Hotaru's face. _Finally, a question worth answering. _She stood up and showed him what was on her back. "Invention number 90532- The ladybug copier. It connects to my temples, receiving brain signals of what I want to express. The ink automatically wears off in twenty seconds so that the sign can be reused."

"But why? Why do you need it?"

"Talking is a waste of time," she said quietly, as if it was it was the most normal thing in the world. She sat on a chair to scribble on a notebook. Feeling Ruka's stare, she promptly pulled out a sign. _Don't get upset. You're better off with me than those two idiots. _

He followed the arrow on edge to the window, where he saw Natsume leaning over the Cherry blossom tree. One hand was on the bark, while the other was flaming in front of his face. The girl was sandwiched between them, her curly hair blowing in the wind. She had a thin build and, he noticed when the wind blew, strawberry panties.

"Mikan!"

He jumped out the window and into the courtyard, racing towards the forest. Hotaru was surprised to see him gone when she looked. Leaving everything on the floor, she slowly rose and stared at his disappearing silhoutte.

"Pfft. Hormones.

* * *

_Earlier that day_

"NAT-SU-ME! What would you like to say to Jinno-sensei?" Mikan shouted cheerfully.

He opened one eyelid to glance at her. _Sleeping is impossible with this idiot around. _"Nothing."

Her mouth dropped open. "What!? If you expect me to take your share of the work---"

"Don't bother nobody will believe it. Your spelling, grammar and handwriting all suck."

He rolled on the grass, trying to cover his eyes from the sun, and his ears from her chatter. _I shouldn't even be here. _As if suddenly changing his mind, he sat straight up. He wasn't here to relax, but hide from someone. His eyes narrowed and he walked away from Mikan.

"Hey! Aren't you listening to me--- Mmph!" Natsume firmly put his hand on her mouth. There were footsteps in the distance.

"_Shh... Follow me," _he whispered, gesturing to the far left. Mikan nodded her head in agreement, and they both crept towrds the Sakura tree. Natsume climbed up to the lowest branch, then bent down to hoist her up. She was barely standing when a pale face came out from the shadows. A cape flowed out from the black, and few spiky clumps of hair were could be seen. Everything else was covered up by tree leaves. He suddenly felt a pain in his knuckles, but decided to ignore it. A scream would've not only given them away, but also ruin his entire image. The figure circled around for a few minutes, before heading towards the barn. Natsume had been holding his breath the whole time, and finally released a sigh of relief.

"That was close."

He wrestled his hand away from the slobbering mouth clamped tight around them, and shook it. Mikan spat on the ground as he jumped down to it.

"That was for dragging me around like a hostage." She dusted herself off, then climbed down.

_Thump! _The moment her feet touched the soil, Natsume turned around and cornered her. "If you ever, and I mean EVER, do that again little girl, I swear that you will get **burned**." For emphasis, he let his left hand catch fire.

She didn't even flinch. He'd done this so many times before that this was only routine. Instead, she felt how weird it was to have his breath on her face. It got worse when she turned and her amber eyes met his ruby ones. She started to blush. Natsume was caught off-guard and the fire slowly extinguished itself. They just kept staring at each other.

Ruka looked on from the bushes. It had taken him quite a long time to get here, since he didn't want to get seen. That was hard, because during the walk around the trees, he'd gathered a "small" fanclub. "Ow," he whispered. "Don't hit me like that."

Piyo gave out a relatively small peep, which he guessed was a sorry.

Natsume was moving closer towards Mikan. His hand was under her chin, forcing a slight tilt. She couldn't do anything; too surprised. Their lips were meeting in:

3,

2,

1,

**BAM! **He rubbed his forehead hard. And turned to the back to find Hotaru holding an even larger Baka gun.

"Mikan," she said, stepping on Natsume's foot along the way. "You idiot. We're going to be late for Jinno's class." She grabbed her wrist, dragging the girl all the way back to the academy.

Natsume watched them make their way into the classroom before leaning on the tree. He mentally slapped himself.

_That was one stupid move._

* * *

A loud knock woke Ruka up from a very long and troubled sleep. The Ice Queen was using a baka gun to hit the door. Apparently, it was only for attention since she was already on the inside of the room. Suddenly, he also noticed all this electronic equipment set up all round. There was only enough space to sit. _How long has she been inside._

"Nogi. I have a preposition for you, and I think it's one you're going to like," she said, moving towards the screen on the main wall. "Take a seat." A group of robots suddenly arrived carrying a tray of snacks.

He remained on the bed as she turned off the lights and started a powerpoint presentation. "Is this about the project? Because you're too late. I spent the whole day doing caligraphy."

Hotaru smirked. "Didn't I tell you I'd pass by myself? This is something much more important. Ruka Nogi, do you...," she circled the room for dramatic effect, "like Sakura Mikan?"

Ruka choked on the provided popcorn, as a picture of Mikan during the School Fair was projected.

"I'll take that as a yes. Given my experience in handling her, we practically read each other's minds. I know how she's feeling, what's she's thinking, and why she thinks that way. And you need my help. I can pretty much guarantee that you'll be together in less than a month."

He was curious. "What's in it for you? And why are you doing it for me?"

"Nothing. I feel... guilty about leaving you with all that work. It's retribution."

_Wow, what a scripted answer, Ruka thought._

"So anyway, are you in or not? I haven't got all day," she said, extending her right hand for a shake.

Ruka stared at her before replying...

**End of Chapter**

* * *

**A/N: **Cliffhanger! I couldn't help myself. Sorry that the chapter's short, but it's basically just a teaser for the chapters to come. Should I continue, or make another story? How do you think it should go? Are the characters OOC? Again this is my first fic. Feedback would help a lot.

Leave your answers in the comments. Thanks!

~Lemon_Chiffon

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